IJC to ‘re-examine’ plan

The International Joint Commission (IJC) is disputing claims Plan 2014 is responsible for historically high water levels in the area, but it plans to “investigate options” that could be taken now to reduce water levels before next spring.

In an email to The Recorder and Times in response to concerns raised by local business owner Nelson Gilbert about Plan 2014’s impact on the livelihood of property owners along the upper St. Lawrence River, IJC officials said they hope to expedite their review process to see if there is anything that can be done.

“IJC commissioners feel that part of our obligation is to re-examine what the IJC has been saying and to see if more could be done to reduce the risk of flooding next year and in future years,” IJC spokeswoman Sarah Lobrichon said in an email.

A full review of the water management system wasn’t planned for another 15 years so they could take into account any long-term changes in the climate, but the current state of water levels has them concerned.

“The new commissioners have called for an accelerated review in the next two to five years and we are hopeful that federal officials, particularly the (United States) Congress, will ensure that this review is fully funded before too long.”

But in the meantime, they plan to look into what can be done in the immediate future to reduce water levels before spring 2020. Details on what that might look like, however, were not immediately made clear.

Gilbert, and many other business and property owners along the upper St. Lawrence River, have been vocal about their opposition to Plan 2014 – a new water management system implemented in the fall of 2016 – calling on the IJC to revert back to Plan 1958 which they say was much more effective. At the very least, they want the IJC to increase the flow at the Moses-Saunders Dam in Cornwall to provide relief for property owners along the upper St. Lawrence.

Lobrichon said, however, while they are “acutely aware of the tremendous harm to shoreline properties and local economies” resulting from the unprecedented conditions this year, the high water levels along the river would have happened regardless of which water management system they had in place.

“All of the Great Lakes have reached record or near-record high water levels this spring as a result of heavy precipitation, which has resulted in record high inflows from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario and above-average runoff from within the Lake Ontario basin,” Lobrichon said.

They have seen the highest ever amount of water flowing into Lake Ontario, which then flows into the St. Lawrence River.

“These inputs, combined with record outflows from the Ottawa River into the St. Lawrence River, have caused record high water levels both upstream and downstream of the Moses-Saunders Dam.”

Because of this, she said the IJC is “working tirelessly” to increase the outflows to reduce high water levels, adding this summer they had the highest outflows on record.

Regardless of the cause of the high water, the IJC plans to see if there is anything they can do to reduce water levels before the spring runoff.